Debate about Gun Control

[Bob Butler 54]

(05-21-2017, 07:39 PM)Galen Wrote: It really is depressing when a comedian does better research than you can manage.  Thinking really is beyond you isn't it?

Extreme partisans can think. They are just deeply committed to tightly linked and interconnected sets of ideas, perceptions and values. Anything that conflicts with their carefully selected and reinforcing notions just bounces off their mind. The tools and methods for protecting their core notions vary. Many dive into partisan sources while ignoring or suppressing awareness of conflicting sources. The number of excuses for rejecting what they don't want to hear are many and varied. There is often a scorn felt towards individuals with conflicting view, who are often ignored, despised and rejected much as publications are. Any argument an extreme partisan isn't apt to win gets sidetracked into straw-man and ad-hominum.

Eric has a consistent and well thought out perspective on gun policy that just requires one to ignore certain things... like history, the text of the law, the values of the authors of the law, the sources of the legal theories he is advocating, etc... He can think, but his thoughts are highly selective.

I engage with Eric and Kinser for similar reasons. Both lock themselves into quite different perspectives, but are more apt to rationalize their perspectives, to think how their beliefs can be defended and work together consistently. The need for any partisan to reject what they don't want to hear is frustrating, but dealing with those who insult and mock rather that making any effort to communicate or respect is worse.